May 28, 2015

Our New White-Washed Hardwood Flooring (and why we had to rip out the old ones after only a year!)

Hey ya'll! So, I've been keeping a little secret from you. In the 9 months that I've been pregnant, not only did we renovate our entire basement, but we also installed new white washed wide plank hardwood flooring in the entire upstairs level of the house. And I've been waiting to share the story with you until everything was 100% finished. And now it's time...I can finally tell you the story of why we had to redo our upstairs floors after only a year.

So, remember those brand new hardwood floors that we had installed last year? Well, about 6 months after they were installed, we watched in pure horror as our wood flooring started buckling, separating, warping, and turning an outdated shade of bright orange. Here's a closeup to show you what I mean.

I tried to keep some perspective about it...it's just hardwood flooring, after all. But, I'd be lying to say I wasn't devastated. We had spent 3 months and a big chunk of money on solid wood floors, and I was quickly coming to the realization that something was terribly wrong.

It was as if our flooring had decided to revert back to the 1970's.

I'm going to put on a brave face and pretend like I handled this well, but there were lots of tears and a few choice fingers aimed at the floor.

So, you're probably wondering what on earth happened.

I don't like to speak negatively about anyone, so rather than getting all worked up about something that has already happened, here's the quickest, most painless way I can describe what unfolded.

Last year, we hired a really bad contractor. I truly don't think there was any malice involved, and I would even go so far as to say that I think he meant well. But the truth is that he took 3 months to do one of the worst jobs I've ever seen. And after he left, it took us another 3 months to clean up the damage he did to our home, and finish the job he started.

And then there's the fact that 6 months after having our floors installed they looked like this.

In a nutshell, after talking to some flooring experts, we discovered that not only was our flooring installed poorly, but the quality of the wood itself was really bad, and that the topcoat used was far from ideal and caused the floors to amber really quickly. So, a few painful lessons I learned from this ordeal (that I refuse to be angry about in the hopes that they will serve me in the future): #1. Do your due diligence when hiring a contractor. Don't just take a blind recommendation from a friend or family member. Ask to see their work. Ask for a firm timeline. Interview multiple contractors.#2. Don't get talked into using solid hardwood from a local mill, even if you're told that it will cut your costs in half (because you might end up like us and have your floors warp and separate just a few months after installation). Buy your wood from a reputable business with a warranty. And I have to tell you, after this experience, I will never have floors stained or finished on-site ever again. Prefinished flooring is so much easier to install, much more durable, and you know exactly what it will look like after it's installed.and #3. Trust your gut. There were multiple instances while working with our first contractor when my instincts were telling me that something wasn't right. I was too afraid to speak up or do anything about it, and it ended up costing me a lot of time and money. Don't be afraid to fire someone who isn't doing the job you are paying them to do.

So, now that my cautionary tale is out of the way, let's move on with the happy part of the story. Back in April, the basement renovation was in full swing, and we had just hired some new contractors to demo the poop tile and install that beautiful gray plank tile downstairs. This time, we did our due diligence when we hired a contractor, and as a result, we ended up working with some really amazing guys. They were organized, meticulous, a pleasure to have around, and their work was flawless. And as they had promised, they completely finished our entire basement in one week.

So, after seeing how pleasant a renovation can be with the right contractors, we decided to hire them to fix the upstairs and handle the hardwood floor installation. We discussed all of our options for a few days, and ultimately decided that because the previous hardwood flooring had been installed so poorly, there was no point in trying to sand them and refinish the hardwood. The old floors would need to come up, the subfloors would need to be replaced (They should have been replaced the first time around but we were talked out of it.), and we would then install new engineered wood flooring.

So, I spent about a week bringing home tons of samples. At one point, there were about 30 sample boards in my garage. And it was so hard to choose because everything looked so weird next to our horrible orange floors. It really threw me off for awhile, but after a week or so I had narrowed down my choices to 3 samples. #1 was my favorite from the start, with #2 being too orange and #3 being too dark.

And that's a terrible iphone pic, but it's gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

So, I listened to my gut and went for what I've wanted all along...a wide plank white washed floor. I was determined to follow my vision, no matter how weird it seemed to anyone else.

The below pic was my inspiration and it took a lot of searching to find something comparable within our price range.

So, I bought a box of choice #1 and laid it out over our floors to get a better idea of what it would look like.

And I was so excited...I knew we had a winner.

It's called Beach Front Oak from the Coastal Urban collection by Primo Florz. They aren't paying me to tell you this, I'm simply including a link to the manufacturer so that you can find it if you need to.

And so it began. Our contractors spent a few days ripping up all of the gross orange floor and replacing all of the subfloors. And then they began installing all of the new flooring. All in all, it took two weeks, just as they had promised.

Can you believe it only took two weeks this time? Last time it took almost 3 months. And I don't even wanna talk about it.

Since everything was finished so quickly this time, I decided just to show you the finished results rather than attempt to tell you about it while all of this was underway. So, here is how the upstairs looks today with the new flooring.

It feels like a glorious new beginning.

No more angry orange floors.

All of our old living room furniture is being used downstairs, so I've decided to redo our upstairs living room (hopefully before the baby gets here). So, for now, only the dining room has been moved back in.

I decided to use the pink rug in here for awhile.

I love this thing, but tend to get sick of it after like a week, so I make no promises if it will stay.

But I love it for now.

I'm just so happy with the way everything turned out. It finally feels right (even though I got it so terribly wrong the first time).

Here's a little glimpse of the hallway with the new flooring.

And a glimpse of the hallway with the old floors, just to remind you of how much they sucked.

We also used this opportunity to replace the old sliding door in the dining room with a new set of pretty french doors.

To remind you, the old 1970's sliding door looked like this.

It was a pretty sassy addition to any dining room, really.

...but one we felt inclined to part with.

Nothing like spending a day with a gaping hole in your house.

It's funny how a little thing like a door can make such a big difference, but there's just something about not having to remove a big stick from the floor every time you want to open the door that makes me feel so happy.

If you've ever had one of those old sliding doors, you KNOW the stick I speak of.

We also had the new contractors fix our stairs. I've never really talked about this (because...sigh) but the old contractor did a horrible job on our stairs. They were never finished and sounded like they were going to break every time you stepped on them. And they were also never trimmed out, so they pretty much just looked bad from day 1. I'll present you with the evidence.

and another glimpse.

I'm not kidding...that is how they looked when they were 'finished'. And this is why I'm choosing to leave a lot of words unsaid...because it's not even necessary.

You have eyeballs.

And now...the stairs today.

I never thought stairs could make me so happy,

BUT I APPRECIATE THEM SO MUCH IT HURTS.

And here's how the upstairs set looks today.

And another glimpse. The stair treads had to be custom matched to our flooring, and I was so thrilled to see how flawlessly they were done.

And that's pretty much it, ya'll.

That's the story of why we chose to redo our hardwood floors for the second time in a year. And with any luck, I will hopefully never have to think about flooring ever again while we live in this house.

Feel free to laugh about the fact that it took me two redos to get it right in both the upstairs AND the downstairs.

It's beyond ridiculous, I know.

I intentionally waited awhile to tell you about all of this so that we could approach it from a place of humor rather than rage.

Because there were times....

It's such a relief to have it all finished and finally be able to 'move back in' and resume our normal lives.

On a sidenote, so many of you have been so excited to see the nursery and now you know what's been taking me so long. I've spent the last 9 months tearing my entire house apart.

Now that everything is finished, I've finally been able to start on the nursery. For now, we've decided to use the old guest room at the end of the hall (the room with the dark gray walls).

I'm currently almost 36 weeks and kinda wanna cry tears of relief that I've made it this far.

The thought of making it to term seemed so far away for so long, and I'm so thankful to be so close to the finish line. As you can imagine, I was so scared for so long that I never really allowed myself to think about the nursery, so I'm just now starting to finally put the room together.

And it's so much fun.

Since it's still highly likely I could deliver her before her due date at the end of June, I don't know whether I'll end up sharing her nursery before she gets here or after she's already arrived. But, either way, I promise to eventually share it, because I'm very excited about what's going on at the end of that hall.

But, if for some reason I decide to take a bit of a 'maternity leave' for the entire month of June or July, just know that I'm allowing myself a little time off and that I'll be back. I'm not going to try to predict or plan anything...I'm just going to relax and enjoy the moment. Thank you guys for allowing me to do that.

What a difference your new floors make! Those old (yet new) floors were hideous! But I love, love, love the new floors and the french doors. I'm moving into my new house next month and replacing the sliding glass door with french doors is on my Top 5 list. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and try and enjoy it! Personally, I can't wait to see the cuteness of the baby room. :)

Wow! We are about to get started on a huge addition/renovation and we were talking about re-doing all of the floors. I'm really glad I read this because we were contemplating not replacing the sub-floors. I am definitely taking this post as a cautionary tale! We will do it right the first time thanks to you!

Everything looks amazing as always! Congrats on the house and the baby!!

Hey Kristen! Good luck on your upcoming reno! Our subfloors were badly damaged from the prior owner's pets (I can't believe I was talked out of replacing them....what on earth was I thinking), they were also just really old and kinda falling apart, and they were particle board rather than plywood. So, if you have any of those issues, you might be better off replacing them, too. Just passing along the info....I'm obviously no expert. :)

Virginia, it looks SO SO SO good!! I'm so sorry you had such a crappy situation the first time though--I'm a bit angry for you actually--but I'm so happy that it looks so great now! The whole house looks amazing together now with the clean, modern flooring. It's so cohesive. Also--so excited for the impending arrival of your little one! Sending good thoughts your way!

You're awesome. Love the humor with which you shared about the flooring... they look AMAZING! Especially that shot looking through the dining room and kitchen.. it's totally different and so refreshing. Congrats on 36 weeks!!! :)

"Writing from a place of humour instead of rage". Bahahahahaha!! I have been there my friend. I am so anxious about re-doing our bathroom....my husband wants to find someone to "do it for cheap" "friend of a friend". Well we had a rental house he let someone loose on (painting). And it was so awful. The guy did a terrible job and i had to repaint walls and trim. Not fun. I will have to tell hik this story to remind him ITS JUST NOT WORTH IT. Can you talk to him too?? Ha! Well it looks lovely now and I am glad you guys were able to fix it. Enjoy that sweet baby soon! Excited for you all!

Ah, I've been there with the having to repaint what someone else painted poorly...it's such a drag! And then again....I've also painted stuff poorly myself in the beginning and had to redo that, too!! :)

Your house is gorgeous! I love your choices and I'm glad everything turned out well for you under the circumstances. Can't wait to see the nursery and of course the beautiful family pics when the little one arrives. Take care!

When I saw the before I thought "Oh no! They look orange". Then I read the entire post and am probably as happy as you are about the new floors! They're gorgeous...and quite frankly EXACTLY what I'd love to have in my own home. People are already trying to talk me out of light floors in favor of what everyone else does around here!(yes, theirs look orangey!) When we do get around to talking out the LR carpet, I'm going to stick to my guns and get my light floor! :-D Blessings on you, your hubby, and your little one to come.

Oh you poor thing, you guys can't catch a break on floors! And with the stress of your pregnancy...**hugs**! Congrats on your beautiful new floors, and for being in the home stretch. We can't wait to see your baby girl:)

So sorry you had to go through the flooring debacle! But, for now, enjoy these last weeks of your pregnancy, the nursery preparation , and know that even if the baby arrives early, it will all work out! Best wishes to you all!

I am so thankful you are doing well. Last post you were just allowed up and about. What a stressful way to be up and about!!! But in the end I'm glad. Really glad you are okay. Baby is okay. And I really think your floors match the style that you've shown us in your blog. How lovely your home is and how we as readers enjoy your humor when just writing must have been hard to relive all that. Today my niece's newly built home and surrounding buildings were torn from their foundations in a flood....and moved and twisted. My heart is aching. We all have valleys and you've had yours many...now it is time for you to be blessed with Joy.

You know what? This is so inspirational! I do things like this all the time, making bad decisions cos I feel pressured by time, budget, other people's opinions etc, and then I end up spending good money on things that aren't really what I wanted. No more! I'm taking your cautionary tale and using it to remind myself to trust my own instincts in MY house.I'm so sorry that this happened to you on such a large scale, and at such a bad time too, but I hope now you can relax in your amazing house that is exactly how you want it just in time for your new little person to arrive :)

Virginia, I totally adore you. I love that you shared the bad as well as the good, reminding us that we are all human and to keep our heads while doing all the pretty. And it IS pretty. I am now seeing light floors to replace the, yes, amber hard woods we inherited. Good luck with your impending addition. Your writing is so fresh,real and gorgeous, I have no doubt readers will be here when you return. My best to you x

One of the things I like best about your blog is that you keep it so real! You show amazing before and after pictures which are so fun but you aren't afraid to say what went wrong, and I really appreciate that. It is so reassuring to know we don't always get it right the first time (so sorry for your bad experience) and that is okay. What matters is you keep at it until you get the right look. What a painful experience you had with the first contractor but you took the high road and learned from it. I am praying for a healthy baby and safe delivery for you! Can't wait to see baby and nursery! God bless you!!

I'm so glad it all worked out so beautifully in the long run. It is entirely inspiring to me who just got approved for our first new house and which needs new floors too! We all can learn from your mistakes, lol! thank you for your honest humorous experiences! We ALL appreciate YOU!

THAT is what I would like my floors to look like. We have had carpeting in our family room for 16 years (there was carpeting there before that we ripped up and replaced when we were able to buy the house we'd been renting) because it's a cold room and we had little kids, but we are both ready to do hardwood. That's exactly what I want it to look like. I'm so sorry about your contractor experience. We had a similar experience with the guy (someone who knew someone from church) who did our deck and also the installers who did our carpet. I've "found my voice" since then, lol.

I LOVE the new floor! So beautiful, can you message me who the new contractor was you used? I live in Knoxville and am creating a plan for when we purchase a home, and I am looking for options for excellent contractors. Those floors are stunning, great choice and the french door looks amazing!

Yep. That is EXACTLY how those floors were meant to look! Good job going with your gut... the end result is absolutely beautiful.

And congrats on making it to 36 weeks (I'm 25 weeks and I know what a relief it is to hit the point of viability)! Best wishes for a strong and healthy labor/delivery and a strong and healthy munchkin! You're going to do great!

Lovely lovely lovely! I am having new engineered floors this year and it was v. dark against pale. PALE WINS thanks to you! You floors look good enough to eat. And by the way, good luck with the coming event. x

Gorgeous floors! If it makes you feel any better, I have my own horror story with hardwood floors. We bought a house with nasty, old carpet and I have ALWAYS wanted to live in a house with 0 carpet (because it's gross and makes my allergies insane). So I decided we would rip it all up and put in hardwoods throughout the house before we moved in! Easy, right? Well the 1st contractor we hired never showed up then got angry when I called him to fire him. Hired another guy who started out strong then fell to pieces. He said it would take 3 weeks. 3 months later after we had to move around a bunch of other contractors, push back our move date and after we had to move in on top of his mess we finally just told him to leave. He didn't do the finish work and a lot of the work he did do is just plain sloppy. My husband had to go behind him and do a lot and we still don't have quarter round in some places. Then he tried to say we owed him a bunch more $ then we did. He ended up screaming at me and threatening me. We had to call out the locksmiths and pay another $250 (we'd already paid to have everything rekeyed when we moved in) to have the locks changed as we weren't confident he had returned all of the keys or made a copy we didn't know about. Oh, and the house already had some wood flooring which was to be sanded and restained. They did it but didn't seal properly so the floors are already scratched beyond belief less than 2 years later. Best of all, the flooring we bought came from a certain company that is now being sued for using materials that offput too much formaldehyde so we just shelled out $500 more for air quality testing to find out if we are affected! Good times... But, you're right, gotta just move on and remember that these are first world problems and not important in the grand scheme of things!

Long story but I too was scared about early delivery through my 2nd pregnancy - I now have a beautiful almost 7 year old boy born healthy at 37 weeks! You made it, now breath...

Aw, I'm so sorry you had to deal with all of that....that sounds all too familiar. I'm so happy to hear thought about your beautiful 7 year old! That's just wonderful. I think dealing with such a difficult pregnancy helped me put everything in perspective, too, and realize that although the house stuff was a pain in the butt, it's just material stuff and I should remember that I have a lot to be thankful for. Sounds like you know what I mean! :)

You rock! Thank you for sharing all of your nightmares. We are about to redo our home, floors, kitchen, etc., and I am FREAKING OUT...! Choice after choice, what do i do. You have calmed me and given me so much advice. Thank you so very much. Good luck and congratulations. Love your blog and love, well you!! xo

Every woman deserves to spend all the time she can with her baby...but promise us you'll post as soon as you can just to let us know everything went well (IT WILL!) and give us a glimpse at her (and reveal the name!). Sorry for all your pains, but love your attitude and perspective in the grand scheme of things, it is just a floor...though I am sure at the time, when you're missing big patches of hair after pulling it out, it felt like a never-ending nightmare you'll someday be telling your little girl about! xoxo thanks for sharing your pain and triumph, the new floors are gorgeous -- and just think, in a year you'll have two tiny feet taking her first steps across those planks :) xoxo

Take all the time you want with that sweet baby girl but would you post when she arrives so we know that all is well? I'll worry about you and her until I hear something (it can be just a one-liner!). The floors look amazing...so clean and fresh. My heart was breaking for you and the added stress of dealing with all those issues while you were fighting off pre-term labor. So thankful you have a loving, supportive husband who adores you. Rest now and enjoy these last weeks of just the two of you.

Hi Julie! Thank you so much! Yes, I will do my best to make a quick update here after she is born, or at least on Instagram (as that may be all I have the energy or time for right away!). Thank you so much for caring! xo

Okay. Sometimes bad things happen so that the things you're destined for can happen. Your home was MEANT to have that floor! I love it!! I love it so much, I just dragged my husband over to look at all your pictures so that we can do nearly the same! It's stunning! Great choice :D

Those new floors are beautiful. I love them! I wondered when you first posted the before and after pics and with how long it all took if they weren't truly what you wanted. I'm glad you found a reputable contractor to get things right and done in a timely manner. That is probably my biggest fear when it comes to home renovations - finding the wrong contractor and having to clean up a giant mess. Take all the time you need for maternity leave. My littlest one just turned 2 and I am trying to figure out where the last 2 years went. Can't wait to see the nursery pics when you have a chance.

I just found your blog when I began to use Pinterest while deciding on new whole house flooring, replacing crappy builders grade 15-year old carpeting. I wanted dark mahogany or Brazilian cherry floors for a long time but took a look at many other easy care products. My husband reminded me why I didn't like hardwood floors in our previous house however, and that reminder was the impetus I needed to take a risk and go with luxury vinyl tile, a light antique marble look. I'm nervous about it, but after reading your blog, I might get a box of tile and lay it down. I'm waiting to get the installation scheduled and have the time to do that. Also, I have paint chips taped to one of my walls and after reading one of your "choosing paint color" posts, I need to buy some samples and paint. Thank you for being real and sharing the successes as well as the mistakes.

I gotta say I love your house! You have made it look so alive and neat! I can't believe how much the light has changed with the painted walls. And I really love the color of the floors, I thought that was going to be the result with the first flooring, actually. Anyways, bad things in the past. I'm glad you found the second contractors and you could finish with the flooring, as I imagine it was a really stressful situation.

The floors turned out fabulous!!!! ooooh yeah- I have contractor horror stories as well. It's crazy how many bad ones are out there and while some of them truly do just take on bigger projects than their skill set can manage- there are also some bad apples (putting it nicely). I do know when we went to build our current house- the flooring options were lacking and we didn't want to pay the builder premium to get what we truly wanted (real authentic hard wood floors) so we went with the fake stuff. Albeit- the good quality plank fake stuff and I'm actually really impressed with how it's held up with a dog and all that. OH and I drooled over your staircase... ours is carpeted (hwark). So eventually that will probably be our first remodel- redo the floors. I did go with the dark floors- and I still love it.

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Hi! I'm Virginia! I'm a newlywed & new homeowner who loves decorating and DIY projects. Making something new out of something old is what inspires me! I'm constantly looking for affordable ways to transform our house! This is my place to share inspirations and DIY! Oh, and maybe talk a little bit about my love for very fat cats. View my story